On April 18, the United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have been a major step toward full Palestinian membership in the United Nations. Twelve of 15 council members voted in favor, Britain and Switzerland abstained, and the U.S. voted against.
U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood reaffirmed the United States support for Palestinian statehood conditioned on eliminating the militant group Hamas control over the Gaza Strip.
“We have long called on the Palestinian Authority to undertake necessary reforms to help establish the attributes of readiness for statehood and note that Hamas – a terrorist organization – is currently exerting power and influence in Gaza, an integral part of the state envisioned in this resolution,” Wood said.
In Russia, the state-owned news outlets and agencies emphasized Moscow’s support for the Palestinian membership and the U.S. and Israel’s “complete isolation” at the United Nations.
Featuring a fragment of the video recording from the UNSC meeting, the Russian media reported that Israel’s representative Gilad Erdan had to address a “half-empty hall” because “half of those present” walked out before he took the stage.
While the Russian media reported that many representatives of the Arab nations walked out from the UNSC boycotting Erdan’s address, they omitted the actions of the Russian diplomats.
On social media platform X, however, users shared video footage from the UNSC, saying that the Russian delegation also walked out after the microphone was passed on to Israel’s representative.
Post by Jackson Hinkle, U.S. political commentator and avid supporter of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, received more than 2 million interactions.
Hinkle sourced his post on the information shared by Lord Bebo, a pro-Russian X influencer who stated that the Russian delegation refused to listen to Israel’s representative:
“Russian delegation in the U.N. Security Council left the meeting before Israel's speech. Looks like the Israeli-Russian relations have broken down, and Russia is now a big fighter for the Palestinian state.”
This is true.
The Associated Press footage of the U.S. Security Council meeting, reviewed by Polygraph.info, shows top Russian UN diplomats, the head of the mission Valery Nebenzya, and his deputy Dmitry Polyansky, standing up and walking out together with the representatives of the Arab nations before Israel’s Erdan starts his address.
Russia and Iran have been deepening their ties since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022. Iran supplies Russia with military equipment, including Shahed drones, which Russia uses for devastating attacks on Ukraine, including against civilians.
Russia also expressed support for Hamas, whose leaders have been frequent visitors to Moscow.